Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power supply for an electrical appliance. The power supply has a female connector for connecting to an electrical plug, in which case the power supply can be removed from the electrical appliance for servicing purposes.
Particularly in the case of small computers, the power supply has to be removed in order, for example, to allow the motherboard to be replaced.
For some servicing work, such as replacement of the drives, it is not absolutely essential to remove the power supply, although it is advantageous, since access to the drives is often considerably easier when the power supply has been removed.
In most computers that are currently commercially available, the power supply need not be removed in order to replace the motherboard. In other models, it is connected to the chassis such that it can be pivoted to the side in order to replace the motherboard for servicing work.
However, in the case of appliances in which the power supply can be removed, there is a risk of the power supply being connected to the electrical cable when it is in the removed state.
Some servicing technicians practice this in order, for example, to check the serviceability of the newly installed motherboard with the power supply removed as well. However, a power supply is not configured for operation outside the computer housing, so that this results in considerable potential danger when the power supply is connected to the mains system when it is in the removed state.